Coronavirus spread: Meerut man dies, 44 fresh cases in UP

According to the state health directorate, 32 of the cases are connected to the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary movement whose congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area last month is the source of scores of positive cases across India.

The death in Meerut is the district’s second. Five of the other deaths have occurred in Agra, two in Moradabad, and one each in Basti, Varanasi, Bulandshahr, Kanpur, and Lucknow districts. (Representational Image)

A 57-year-old man died of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Meerut Medical College on Thursday night, taking the state toll to 14, even as 44 new cases were detected.

According to the state health directorate, 32 of the cases are connected to the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary movement whose congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area last month is the source of scores of positive cases across India.

The death in Meerut is the district’s second. Five of the other deaths have occurred in Agra, two in Moradabad, and one each in Basti, Varanasi, Bulandshahr, Kanpur, and Lucknow districts.

“He was admitted to the medical college on April 12, and he tested positive three days later,” Dr RC Gupta, the college principal, told The Indian Express. “He was then shifted to the isolation ward. He had gone to the toilet last night, and while on his way to bed he collapsed. We have tried to revive him through cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, but in vain. He had been getting treatment for lungs, which were not functioning properly for the last six months.”

Superintendent of Police (City) Akhilesh Narain Singh claimed that his department had information that the Coronavirus death, Coronavirus cases, UP cases, Lucknow news, indian express newsvictim “was in regular touch with a group of Jamaatis” who have now been held by the police. The police official said the neighbourhood the victim lived in has been added to a list of hotspots.

Of the new positive cases, 12 were reported from Moradabad, seven each from Kanpur and Lucknow, five from Agra, two each from Varanasi, Bulandshahr and Mainpuri, and one each from Hapur, Mirzapur, Auraiya, Badaun, Etawah, Sambhal and Gonda districts. With this, 849 people in 49 districts have been found to have contracted the virus.

Six of the cases in Lucknow were reported from the Sadar area, which has emerged as one of the biggest hotspots in the state, recording a total 87 cases in the last two weeks. At least 23 positive cases had been reported from the area on Thursday, and 28 patients with COVID-19 had been found there the day before.

The first 12 cases in the area, linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, emerged on April 3. The 12, residents of Saharanpur, were found hiding in the area after returning from Delhi. According to sources, close to 200 people from Sadar have been kept in institutional quarantine.

Meanwhile, state health authorities said till date 84 people had been discharged from hospitals — 32 in Noida, followed by 14 in Meerut, 10 in Agra, eight in Lucknow, seven in Ghaziabad, four in Hathras, three in Bareilly, two in Pilibhit, and one each in Kanpur, Shamli, Lakhimpur Kheri and Moradabad.

Earlier in the day, 110 three-member teams, and 36 supervisors visited almost 10,000 houses in the city’s Barsatiganj, Naka Hindola, Punjabi Mohalla, Ganeshganj and other areas to spread awareness about the pandemic.

According to sources in the health department, at least 197 samples were collected during the day on the basis of surveillance and contact tracing, and sent to King George’s Medical University (KGMU) for testing.

The hospital, meanwhile, discharged two patients. With this, KGMU has successfully treated nine patients. At present, there are six patients in its isolation ward.